MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.—A day after Texas A&M redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel shredded Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, it’s fair to say Everett Golson once thought himself ready to tear it up as a freshman quarterback.

A true freshman quarterback.

He was so wrong.

A redshirt beckoned for the Notre Dame recruit from Myrtle Beach, S.C. The scout team, too.

“Coming in,” Golson recalled here on Friday, “I thought I was ready to play or had that confidence that I was ready to play, but it wasn’t that way for me. I think being put back on the scout team really humbled me, made me kind of reassess myself.”

Golson’s period of self-assessment would last for at least a year, through times of doubt that he’d have any chance to play as a redshirt freshman, and through the trials that came with teammates and coaches doubting the quiet young man had the stuff of a leader for the Irish.

Many an Irish fan would’ve expected Tommy Rees to settle into the starting role following his one-game suspension to begin the season. There were those who believed junior Andrew Hendrix would win the job. For sure, there was a sizable camp awaiting the exploits of star recruit Gunner Kiel.

But Brian Kelly saw something in the 6-0, 185-pound Golson; the coach didn’t fully believe in it, but he knew it was there. Golson’s teammates? Like the quarterback himself, they’d come around a little later.

“He’s more of what you think a quarterback should be now,” left tackle Zack Martin said.

What does that mean, exactly?

For starters: “When he first stepped in,” Martin explained, “he was a little tentative.”

If that sounds like another way of saying Golson lacked comfort, confidence and decisiveness on the field, yes, all those things are true. It’s also a reference to the quietness—the meekness—of his voice. In the huddle, in the locker room, even in the quarterbacks’ meeting room, Golson was tentative.

He started the season opener anyway. And the trajectory of Golson’s season went something like this: up, down, up, down—and, more than a few times, out.

When Kelly saw bad decisions during games, he tried to remain patient. But when that tentativeness struck, the coach was quick to bring out the hook and send Rees in to play.

“We did that to win the game,” Kelly said, “but you’ve got to look at it from Everett’s standpoint: ‘Does Coach Kelly want me to be the guy here?’ ”

Golson knows now that the answer is yes, because Kelly stuck with him. He also realizes those quick hooks were warranted.

“At the time, to be honest, I couldn’t see it because the competitor in me wanted to be on the field,” he said. “But the coaches did what was best for the team, and that’s why we’re 12-0 today.”

They’re 12-0 and ranked No. 1, but they’re also big-time underdogs vs. Alabama—and if Nick Saban and his well-oiled machine is Reason 1 for that, Golson and the question marks surrounding his play on Monday night is Reason 2.

Golson, though, is finished doubting himself.

“I don’t ride the wave (of emotions) too much,” he said.

He’s getting better all the time, and this is what Kelly hoped—almost fully believed—would happen when he named Golson the starter coming out of fall camp.

When he’s on his game, both using his gifts and being decisive, it’s not hard to recognize. Frankly, when Golson looks good, he can look pretty great. He also can sound pretty great.

“Let’s go out there and get it the next series!” he yelled to his offensive teammates more and more often as the regular season progressed.

The first time he shouted at his teammates in the huddle during a game—“Let’s make plays!” were the words he chose, in a booming voice—everyone got excited. The rest of the offense knew its leader had arrived.

“It was huge,” running back Theo Riddick said.

Alabama may not fear Golson, but the Irish believe in him.

“I’ve seen as much development as you can see in a quarterback,” wide receiver T.J. Jones said.

The linemen block harder for Golson now, knowing he has the confidence and calm to extend plays.

“Get on your block and stay on your block,” Martin said, “so Everett can do what he does.”

One of the things he does is take the blame for whatever goes wrong. If a teammate screws up, Golson taps himself on the chest and says, “My bad.” It might not sound like much, but it goes a long way.

As Golson has gone a long way in his short time at Notre Dame. On the brink of the most daunting night of his football life—a game many on the outside of the program believe Golson simply isn’t ready to win—the quarterback is feeling the message of a certain bible verse.

“The race is not given to the swift or the strong—I’m paraphrasing—but it’s given to the one that endures to the end,” Golson said. “Alabama has a great defense, great team, bigger, faster, stronger. But it’s really about who’s going to endure to the end.”